We aren’t talking about what waiver deals will occur before the end of the month in this article but instead the deals that took place prior to the non-waiver deadline on July 31st. There were some players traded who everyone expected to be traded and some players traded that came as a shock to a lot of people around baseball. One of those surprise moves included Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Scott Rolen.

Rolen was sent to the Cincinnati Reds by the Jays for Edwin Encarnacion, right handed pitcher Josh Roenicke, and minor league right handed pitcher Zachary Stewart. This deal surprised a lot of people around baseball because of all the Blue Jays players Rolen’s name almost never came up in the rumors leading up to the deadline unlike his former teammate Roy Halladay. Halladay, with all the rumors swirling for three weeks, stayed put at the deadline and will continue to pitch for the Jays until at least the end of the 2009 regular season.

The biggest surprise of the deadline came when the San Diego Padres announced that they traded ace Jake Peavy to the Chicago White Sox for four pitchers. The pitchers headed to the Padres include Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Adam Russell, and Dexter Carter. A deal for Peavy between these two teams was agreed upon in May but Peavy would not waive his no-trade clause. The same four pitchers heading to the Padres were agreed upon by the two teams in the original proposal back in May. Poreda was the White Sox’ top pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.

Other deals that went down on July 31st prior to the 4pm EST deadline included the following:

• Athletics trade shortstop Orlando Cabrera to the Twins for Tyler Ladendorf.
• Nationals trade reliever Joe Beimel to the Rockies for right handed pitchers Ryan Mattheus and Robinson Fabian.
• Nationals trade first baseman Nick Johnson to the Marlins for left handed pitcher Aaron Thompson.
• Indians trade cathcer Victor Martinez to the Red Sox for right handed pitcher Justin Masterson, right handed pitcher Bryan Price, and left handed pitcher Nick Hagadone.
• The Reds trade third baseman Jerry Hairston Jr. to the Yankees for catcher Chase Weems.
• The Braves traded first baseman Casey Kotchman to the Red Sox for first baseman Adam LaRoche.
• The Dodgers traded right handed pitcher Claudio Vargas to the Milwaukee Brewers for catcher Vinny Rottino.
• The Mariners traded pitcher Jarrod Washburn to the Detroit Tigers for left handed pitcher Lucas French and left handed pitcher Mauricio Robles.

The 2009 MLB trading deadline was one of the busiest in recent years and waiver trades will more than likely be just as busy as non-waiver trades in the coming weeks. Plenty of top prospects were traded on deadline day or prior to the deadline including deals that involved outfielder Matt Holliday, Cliff Lee, Jack Wilson, Freddy Sanchez, George Sherrill, Kevin Hart, Tom Gorzelanny and John Grabow. Some of the top prospects on the move were Brett Wallace, Dexter Carter, Lou Marson, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Knapp, Jason Donald and Jeff Clement.

The Cleveland Indians have traded their Cy Young pitcher from the previous year for the second year in a row. The Indians traded left-handed pitcher Cliff Lee and outfielder Ben Francisco to the Philadelphia Phillies for four minor league prospects. Those prospects are right-handed pitchers Jason Knapp and Carlos Carrasco, shortstop Jason Donald and catcher Lou Marson. This trade looks to benefit both teams as both team’s needs were addressed in this blockbuster trade.

The Phillies have been looking for starting pitching as of late, and Cliff Lee should fit into the rotation rather nicely. Cliff Lee was last season’s American League Cy Young award winner. He went 22-3 with 2.54 ERA and 170 strikeouts. He pitched 223.1 innings over 31 games with four complete games, two of which were shut outs. This year, Lee is pitching better than his numbers suggest. He is 7-9 with a 3.14 ERA and 107 strikeouts. His win-loss record could be better, had he been pitching for a better team this season. Lee pitches a lot of innings, helping a bullpen rest, which is crucial down the stretch. Lee will give the Phillies four left-handed pitchers in their starting rotation, along with Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer and J.A. Happ. Right-hander Joe Blanton rounds out the rotation with right-hander Pedro Martinez due to join the club as soon as next week. It is unknown who will be delegated to the bullpen yet.

The Phillies are also getting outfielder Ben Francisco, giving them a right-handed bat off of the bench and an extra outfielder to give the All-Star trio of Raul Ibanez, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth a break here and there. Francisco is batting .250 with 10 home runs and 33 RBI’s this season.

After turning down an offer to give up three prospects for Toronto Blue Jay ace pitcher Roy Halladay, the Phillies made a move that would give up four prospects. Toronto wanted pitchers Kyle Drabek and J.A. Happ, but the Phillies were not willing to part with both as a package. The package of prospects going to Cleveland includes four players, three of which are almost Major League ready.

Carlos Carrasco, once deemed to be the Phillies star pitcher of the future, may be the highlight of the package. His numbers are down this year with a 6-9 record and a 5.18 ERA in 20 games this season at the AAA level. He was selected to the Futures Game, the minor league All-Star game, in 2006, 2007 and 2008. He is currently Major League Baseball’s 28^th ranked prospect. The other pitcher in this deal is Jason Knapp. Knapp has been pitching at the A level this year. He is 2-7 with an ERA of 4.01 and 111 strikeouts in 85.1 innings pitched over 17 games.

Jason Donald, who recently had knee surgery, is batting .236 with 1 home run and 16 RBI’s in 51 games at the AAA level. He is a young middle infielder that was in an organization with Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins holding down the positions he plays. Lou Marson is batting .294 with 1 home run and 24 RBI’s in 63 games at the AAA level. He appeared in seven games with the Phillies this year and was part of their September call-ups last year.

The Phillies found a front line starting pitcher in Cliff Lee to give them a strong one-two punch with Cole Hamels. The Indians found four prospects, three possibly Major League ready by the end of the season. This has been a very exciting trade season with two days left until the deadline. The biggest question remaining is where, if anywhere, will Roy Halladay end up? It won’t be the Phillies anymore. They picked up a Cy Young caliber pitcher and held on to the prospects that they did not want to part with. This looks like a great move, but only time will tell if it actually is though.

Garko was hitting .285 with 11 homeruns and 39 RBIs in 78 games. Garko spent the past five seasons in Cleveland, hitting .283 overall with 53 homeruns and 235 RBIs. Garko will hopefully provide some much needed pop to a lethargic Giants offense that has gotten excellent pitching performances from Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain all season long.

Barnes was 12-3 with a 2.85 ERA at Single-A San Jose with 99 strikeouts in 98 innings. All 18 games he has pitched in have been starts. The Indians will recall third baseman Andy Marte from Triple-A Columbus to replace Garko on the 25-man roster. Marte was hitting .327 with 18 homeruns and 66 RBIs for the Clippers.

Conversations between Toronto and Philadelphia, said to be the front runner for acquiring Halladay, are in a stalemate because the Phillies will not part with top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek. The Blue Jays have repeatedly asked for Drabek along with J.A. Happ and Dominic Brown. The Phillies countered with a package that would include one or more of the following players; Michael Taylor, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald and Lou Marson.

Toronto balked at the counter offer from the Phillies and sources claim that both teams are still in negotiations regarding Halladay but that talks turned nasty at one point over the weekend. The second team said to be in the running for Halladay are the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim but Toronto is said to be asking for three players on the Angels’ 25-man roster in return for Halladay.

Halladay, wherever he lands, will make a major impact on his new team if he is traded at all. Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi claims he really doesn’t think that Halladay will be traded by the time the 4pm Friday deadline arrives because he doesn’t believe that any team will want to part with the prospects they are asking for in return. If Halladay does change teams he will likely end up with the Phillies, Dodgers, or Angels. These three teams seem to be the ones that have the talent it will take to pry the Cy Young Award winner from the only team he has ever played for.

So what happens to the rest of the league if Halladay does not get traded or if the Blue Jays decide to hold onto him even if there is time left prior to the deadline? Many teams could turn to the Cleveland Indians and the Seattle Mariners. The Indians haven’t decided yet if they are willing to trade former Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee or hold onto him. The Mariners also aren’t sure if they are ready to part with Jarrod Washburn prior to the deadline. If teams are looking for a plan B then they could possibly turn their attention towards Lee and/or Washburn.

Other pitching options for teams looking for relievers include Baltimore’s George Sherrill, possibly the Reds’ Arthur Rhodes, the Diamondbacks’ Chad Qualls, the Nationals’ Joe Beimel and the Pirates’ John Grabow and Matt Capps. It is still difficult to determine whether or not there will be a flurry of minor trades by week’s end or if the Holliday to St. Louis trade will be the only blockbuster deal of the 2009 regular season.

Aside from the steroid controversy surrounding the sport of baseball there have also been some incredibly entertaining, yet embarrassing, blowups by managers and players alike in the Minors and in the Majors throughout the years. We are writing this article on the heels of Carlos Zambrano’s explosion at Wrigley Field on May 27th when his Cubs defeated the Pirates 5-2.

Some of the most famous explosions over the years have included Milton Bradley, Lloyd McClendon, Earl Weaver, George Brett, Phil Wellman and Joe Mikulik just to name a few. Wellman and Mikulik were Minor League managers at the time of their blowups with umpires while the rest of the list experienced their blowups in the Majors.

So, please enjoy the following videos of managers and players flipping out on umpires during Minor League and Major League games.

George Brett, following an important homerun, had his bat examined by the umpires and it was found to have too much pine tar on the barrel. The umpires canceled his homerun and Brett went balistic. Here is the video:

George Brett Pine Tar

Reporters asked Royals coach Hal McRae a stupid question following a game and McRae proceeded to lose his mind during his post-game press conference.

Hal McRae

A Chicago Cub was thrown out at third on a questionable call and manager Lou Piniella loses his mind on the umpire. Check out the classic kick of the hat…a signature Sweet Lou move.

Piniella

This next video has some explicit language in it but no one should be surprised since it involves former Orioles manager Earl Weaver. Weaver was never kind to the umpires and vice versa.

Earl Weaver

John McLaren, when manager of the Seattle Mariners in 2008, drops one bomb after another during his press conference following yet another Mariner loss.

McLaren Rant

One of the most recognizable fights in baseball history happened during the 2003 ALCS between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Pedro Martinez grabbed Don Zimmer’s head and threw him to the ground. Take a look for yourself:

Zimmer vs. Martinez

The name Phil Wellman will never be forgotten in baseball lure, especially within the Minor Leagues. Wellman, a Braves Minor League manager, argued a call and then went nuts after he didn’t get his way.

Phil Wellman

Joe Mikulik is another Minor League manager, for the Asheville Tourists, who lost his mind after arguing with an umpire.

Joe Mikulik

The reason we wrote this article, the Carlos Zambrano ejection from earlier in the 2009 season, is the final video of our collection this time around. Hope you enjoy it. One wonderful fan turned it into a Gatorade commercial. Gotta love it:

Zambrano vs Gatorade Machine